


And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

by Emono



Series: Saw AU [5]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Basically the Love Story that happens while the rest of the series is going on, Blood and Injury, Dark Romance, Drama & Romance, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Polyamory, Saw AU, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-07 00:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11612460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: A look behind the curtain at Jigsaw and how it came to be. The lies, the love, the heartbreak. A mentor and his apprentice, adn the innocent boy they love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you guessed who Jigsaw was and here we go! My recently discovered love for Ralph Spina drove me to write this and I hope you guys enjoy it. I enjoyed writing :3 Only a bit more of the series left. Comments are always appreciated and make my day <3

‘ _Sworn to avenge, condemn to Hell! Tempt not the blade all fear the Sentinel!_ ’

 

The music was blaring as Gene headed down into the basement of the ‘abandoned’ warehouse he owned under an umbrella company name. He owned several buildings like this and he used them for his work under the guise of non profit turnaround project that, on the books, was temporarily suspended. Most of the basements and tucked away spaces of the buildings had been converted into hidden workshops. ‘Secret’ didn’t quite work though when his apprentice blared Judas Priest.

 

Gene lifted the panel in the drywall and entered the key combo to open the hidden door he’d installed. It popped open easily and he recovered the keypad before slipping inside. The music was louder now and he smiled fondly as he turned the corner and spotted Ralph. His protege was working on welding together the cross that would hold Special Agent Joe Toye. The welding mask was perched on top of his head as he tied twine around a flat piece of support beam to keep it to the larger cross structure. Once done, he banged his head a few times to the bass and the mask fell easily into place. The torch was sparked and then popped to life.

 

His eyes started to wander from the work. Ralph always wore old clothes that he could sweat through when he was getting his hands dirty and Gene bit his lip as he followed the ripped lines in his tank. Ralph was a handsome man. Tan and fit, he had been doing lots of lifting recently to be the muscle to Gene’s brains. But Ralph was eons smarter than he gave himself credit for.

 

It was why had Gene had chosen him as his first test subject.

 

They’d gone to medical school together. They hadn’t exactly been friends but with a small, competitive class, who worked strange hours, it was hard not to get to know people. Ralph had been a middle of the road student, doing well and cruising above failure. He had the solid makings of a doctor in him. Even Gene had seen the man’s good heart and his drive to help people.

 

Unfortunately, Ralph had gotten into drugs at the end of his first year residency and dropped out without a word overnight. After Gene’s accident and his epiphany, he too had to drop out for a time. As he recovered, he thought of their two lives and how different they’d become.

 

When the idea of the work came to him, he thought of Ralph and how he wanted to help him get his life back. The man had been so full of light and drugs had taken everything from him. Tracking him down and seeing the once smart, bright young man withered to nothing had reinforced his decision. Gene had conceived a steam and cuff trap for Ralph and executed it to the best of his ability. His father had been an engineer and he took some classes when he was younger to enhance what he grew up around. Because of that Gene had a good working knowledge of mechanics, but had never wanted to risk his hands. For Ralph, he had.

 

Ralph had been attached to cuffs that only allowed him so much movement in one direction. Gene had designed the game simply enough - move through multiple thick pillars of steam, endure burns, and get to the hanging keys across the room. Gene had watched many of his tests play out but Ralph’s had been the first and only one that had pulled on his heart strings. Watching him emerge with bubbled, blistered flesh and screaming had drawn Gene from his shadows. Freed and alive, Ralph had been crumpled on the floor sobbing in more pain than he’d ever felt in his short life.

 

Gene had taken Ralph’s tear stained cheeks between his palms, looked upon his face, and felt love.

 

‘ _You were missing that piece, that survival instinct_ ,’ Gene had crooned, pushing back the man’s sweat matted bangs to look into those shell shocked eyes. ‘ _So many are ungrateful to be alive. Not you. Not anymore_.’

 

Gene had dosed him, of course. He’d drugged Ralph and taken him to a hospital, left him to live his life. He thought of the man often but forced himself to keep his distance. He was sure Ralph went to the police but there was no fear of him remembering his face. After some time, Gene started to see graffiti around that same hospital. They were simple blacked out markings of puzzle pieces but they struck him.

 

_Missing piece._

 

Feeling bold, Gene had broken into Ralph’s apartment and found damning cans of spray paint and the rolled up stencil. He’d confronted the man in his own way. He’d waited until Ralph got home and took him from behind wearing a throw-away pig mask he’d found in a costume bag in one of his abandoned properties. With a scalpel to Ralph’s throat, he’d demanded to know what he thought he was doing with his new found life. Ralph had said the one phrase he hadn’t expected.

 

“ _I was looking for you!_ ”

 

Even now Gene could remember the feeling of Ralph in his arms that day - the quickness of his breath, the fluttering pulse against the blade, the pure heat of his body. Ralph had hurried to confess he’d been searching for the man who had changed his life. He’d understood his lesson well. Beyond that even, he wanted to offer his services.

 

“ _Let me help you,_ ” Ralph had begged, neither fighting him nor relaxing in his hold. “ _I ruined my dream. I can’t go back to medical school. They won’t let me in, least not in this state. What you did to me...it could help other people. You could save them._ ”

 

“ _That’s the idea, Mr. Spina._ ”

 

“ _I can help you help those people. I have engineering skills and I’m clean._ ”

 

“ _I know, I’ve been watching you._ ”

 

“ _I thought you had._ ” Ralph’s voice had been so quiet and he had leaned into them then. “ _I’d hoped you had._ ”

 

To this day Gene couldn’t figure out what had come over him. Maybe it had been the sweet scent of the man’s hair or the sincerity in his voice, or something else. “ _Can you obtain your Engineering degree_?”

  
  
“ _I-I can try._ ”

 

“ _You will_.” The slightest movement of the scalpel punctuated his sentence.

 

“ _I will!_ ”

 

He’d let him go, taken off the mask, and that was the last moment to turn back. Ralph’s face had been gently confused but not upset or scared. “ _Eugene Roe? Is that you? It’s been years…_ ”

 

“ _Hello, Ralph._ ”

 

Gene’s mouth had gone dry as Ralph had dropped to a knee and gazed up at him with naked awe. “ _Thank you, Gene. For everything. I’ll do anything you need_.”

 

“ _Why?_ ” A simple question to a complicated answer.

 

“ _Because we could save someone worth saving._ ”

 

Gene had spent the past two years showing Ralph he truly was worth saving. Ralph had gone back to school, finished his Masters up and became Gene’s disciple full time. With his help, the number of tests he’d been able to run had doubled. Gene never seemed to have the proper time between the clinic, his shifts, and the games to build back up his physical body from the accident. So Ralph had picked up the slack with an ease that was more than admirable.

 

They’d grown close and carnal temptations were getting the best of Gene. Ralph was a beautiful man. Gene ached for him but it would be wrong to pursue those urges. He’d given Ralph a second chance and the man had responded with friendship, grateful devotion, and no small amount of flirting. Whether Ralph was serious or not about his intentions didn’t matter. Gene couldn’t take advantage of their relationship. They were completely reliant upon one another as master and student, as partners.

 

Their relationship was built on pure trust and bloodshed. It was not to be tested with wistful crushes.

 

Ralph’s phone went off and the welding torch blinked out. He took up the remote and clicked it toward the stereo before pushing up his mask and answering it. “Babe? Hey.” His face lit up as he spoke. “Yeah, we’re still on for tonight. I’ve got a lot of work here still, me and the Doc, to get this clinic up and running again but I should make it no problem. I wouldn’t miss you _and_ sixty cent wing night.”

 

Ah yes, and the little matter of Ralph’s pretty boyfriend Edward “Just Call Me Babe” Heffron. He had a mouth made for smiling and cinnamon hair that had a habit of catching the sun. Babe was bright and loud and bubbly, the very stars lived in his eyes. Together they made quite a stunning couple. Somewhere along the way, Gene had fucked up and ended up liking them both.

 

Ralph had met Babe when he’d gone back to school. One of Babe’s friends, Julian, was in some of Ralph’s classes and they’d gone out for a drink and met. They had clicked since day one. Gene was proud of his apprentice for making such a good friend and having it develop naturally into a more romantic relationship. He’d watched the two of them together and it seemed so healthy, so good. To him it looked well on the way to love.

 

Though he was ashamed to admit it to himself, Gene burned with jealousy. Sharing Ralph was far more difficult than he’d imagined it would be. Ralph had been so hung up about Gene when he’d taken him under his wing. It had been the two of them for quite some time; planning games to give people new lives, working late into the night, sharing pizza and terrible metal music, and talking quietly about their lives. Ralph had been the first real friend Gene had had in years. He was the first person he’d let himself get close to after the incident that turned him down this path. Ralph had been his. He’d given up his life for the work just as Gene had. Ralph had been his proof that the work was worth it. It didn’t help that Gene had met Babe and found himself developing a small (and growing) crush on the boy. Babe made Gene laugh and no one but Ralph had done so in memory. His smile was infectious and lit up the room. How could he not be smitten?

 

And Gene’s scars itched as he realized just how alone he really was.

 

“Of course I’ll ask him,” Ralph promised on the phone, sitting back on his heels. “I mean, don’t know if he’ll say yes...yeah, I want Doc to come too. We have fun, the three of us. I will, Babe. I’ll do my best. I’m sure he wants to see you too.” Ralph looked down at his watch with a tisk. “Okay, I gotta get back to it. I’ll see you later. Bye.”

 

Ralph hung up and pocketed it. It was a burner, like all their phones, but Gene knew he was extra careful with that one. He watched Ralph roll his shoulders before flipping back down the mask and firing up the torch.

 

Gene retraced his steps and decided to leave him be for now.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Gene had his resources and quite an assortment of stolen information thanks to his quick hands and late night cycles in the clinic. Detectives and flatfoots didn’t pay attention to where their wallets were when they were getting bullet wounds stitched up. Thanks to his research on Joe Liebgott and Joe Toye, he found two more men who seemed in need of a game. Deputy Marshal William Smith and Merriell Shelton.

 

Gene headed up the steps to Ralph’s apartment, holding onto the rail while he read a news article on his phone about the Deputy Marshal taking out a dangerous operative with a sniper rifle. He seemed to be quite a shot and it would be a tricky capture if they attempted it. He would talk it over with his apprentice and hopefully together they could hammer out a solid plan. He turned the corner, looked up, and froze.

 

It was Ralph but far from alone. Him and Babe were a tangle of limbs and fused at the mouth, making out up against the wall like a couple teenagers as they both fumbled around for the keys. Ralph’s hat was on the ground and his hair was ruffled up from his boyfriend’s eager fingers. Babe was adorable in the way he was trying to pin Ralph down and the other’s smirk was knowing. Gene shamelessly followed the way Ralph’s thigh slipped between Babe’s legs and ground up against him. The man moaned and rubbed back, groping blindly at whatever he could reach. A hand slipped up under Babe’s shirt and Gene could see the treasure trail of cinnamon hair, pale skin, a freckled hip, and the glimpse of a pale pink nipple before Ralph pinched it.

 

Babe broke the kiss to whine, “Ow, Ralph…”

 

“You like it, pretty boy,” Ralph murmured, fingernails scraping blushing lines across the man’s nape. “Think I’ll let you fuck me tonight.”

 

Gene felt like he’d been winded. He cursed the jolt of heat that had shot between his thighs and stepped back in hopes of a quiet retreat. A noisy board caught under his heel and creaked. Ralph’s head shot toward him and for a moment he saw a shadow of himself, a darkness in his eyes and a possessive curl to his fingers that was pure predator. It was a finely tuned survival instinct they both had - aware of noise, of sudden movement, of watchful eyes. That piercing glare quickly turned to surprise and a dark blush stained across his cheeks.

 

“Uh, Gene, hey,” Ralph greeted meekly.

 

Babe’s head shot up and then they were both staring wide eyed and almost guilty.

 

“Sorry, I...I should’ve called,” Gene faltered. “I just got off the clinic. I’ll go.”

 

Ralph wiggled out from under Babe’s slack grip. “No, wait!”

 

Gene held up a hand to stop him and attempted a smile. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

 

Gene had never ran out of a place so fast and so humiliated. He got back in his car and drove without thought in hopes of getting home. Instead he ended up outside one of his warehouses. He sat there in the dark and quiet of the night simply staring out at the abandoned parking lot. He didn’t quite know what he felt.

 

No, he knew what it was. He was lonely, plain and simple. He didn’t just want anyone, he wanted _Ralph_. And Goddamn his stupid heart, he wanted Babe right along with him though it was only just the fragile first bud of a crush. It was fucked up. Gene hated the kind of selfish monster he could be sometimes. It was the same kind of behavior he hated himself for before.

 

He needed to throw himself into the work and forget all about the night.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Gene prided himself on coming back from the car crash incident and returning to his residency. He’d completed it with flying colors, soaring past his colleagues and completing the program to become a doctor as he’d always dreamed. Now he used that hard work to cycle through the hospitals in the city as a floater and taking clinic hours whenever he could. In an attempt to cleanse his soul and purge his yearning heart, he’d pulled a double shift, plus more than his share, of clinic hours.

 

It was six AM by the time he stumbled into the old asylum he was using as his current base of operations. Gene had started his biggest game yet with more than a dozen subjects involved. It was intricate, horribly complex, and he’d tossed himself headfirst into it. He spent so much time hunched over sketches that his nails were stained with charcoal, no matter how many times he washed them. They would be running three games at the same time followed closely by a fourth. It would be his largest undertaking and everything needed to be perfect.

 

Gene went to the far side of the asylum where they had hidden away their set up behind a false wall. They had the areas sectioned off and he headed to his own work area where his desk was set up. He started pulling out the files and sorting the pictures to pin up and better give him an idea of what he was working with. Carwood Lipton, his husband Ronald Speirs, George Luz, Joseph Toye, Merriell Shelton, William Smith, Joseph Liebgott, and David Kenyon Webster.

 

Gene lingered on Webster’s picture. He was a young man in the prime of life free of any real sin. He didn’t deserve to be among these others but he was caught up in Liebgott’s game. Gene didn’t like to hurt innocents if he could help it. He would save Webster from any unnecessary pain but his fate would all depend on Liebgott’s actions.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

If Gene had been anything other than bone deep exhausted he would’ve jumped. He hadn’t heard the telltale clack of boots or the frustrated huff. His senses were dulled and he cursed himself for being reckless.

 

“What are you doing here?” Ralph spat, fists on his hips and eyes smoldering with conviction. “You’re asleep on your feet, Gene, for fuck’s sake.”

 

Gene turned and was ready to shut him down when the man touched his cheek. His fingers were firm as they curled along his jaw and he hated how he melted into it. It was the first touch between them in weeks and it felt like liquid warmth had poured down his spine. A thumb pressed down below his eye and Ralph scrutinized what he saw. “Don't.”

 

“You’re dehydrated,” Ralph observed with a sharp frown. “You can barely stand up. I thought you only had a double? Where have you been the past few hours? ‘Cause I know it wasn’t sleeping.”

 

“Clinic,” Gene grunted, batting away his hand though he missed the warmth. He side stepped him to put some distance between them. “I’m fine.”

 

“You’re not. Jesus, Gene!” Ralph caught him when he stumbled on weak knees. He tried to push upright but his palm skidded uselessly off the man’s arm. “I’ve never seen you this tired.”

 

“I don’t have time to sleep,” Gene dismissed as he tried to get his feet back under him.

 

“That’s why I’m here, to help you,” Ralph crooned, rubbing his back. “Tell me what to do, Doc. I’m all yours.”

 

That snapped the fragile threads of his control and a jealous beast snapped it’s foul jaws in his ribcage. _You’re not mine._

 

“Leave me alone!” Gene roared, pushing him away and throwing himself at the desk. He braced his hands on the edge as his world dipped in and out. He clenched his eyes shut and grit his teeth against the wave of nausea. How long since he’d slept or ate more than a handful of food? He didn’t have time for this. “I have work to do.”

 

The silence stretched on and his elbows shook under the weight of him. Gene started to choke up as he thought of being alone again. It’d be better for Ralph, he deserved to be free from all this. Gene knew there was something ugly inside him and he didn’t want to infect anyone else.

 

A yelp escaped him as he was unceremoniously snatched up around the middle and lifted off his feet.

 

“Let me go!” Gene demanded breathlessly, flailing and kicking out as he was hauled away from the desk. Ralph’s arms were steel bands around him and he was dragged past his own sparse cot to the main workshop. They were making a beeline to Ralph’s cubby hole. It was a big closet that he had given to his apprentice to do with what he wanted. The walls were lined with posters and magazine clippings, and most importantly a real bed. It was a queen packed with blankets and pillows like a nest.

 

Gene’s breath left in an ‘oof’ as he was slammed down onto it. He was pinned on his back and blinking up at the ceiling before he realized what had happened. Something brushed his leg and he found Ralph quickly kicking off his own shoes. He made a move to get up but Ralph was quick, climbing over him and catching his wrists. Gene strained against those hands but Ralph’s grip was as steady as his glower and eventually he flopped back down onto the bed with a frustrated sigh. There was no escaping when Ralph put his mind to something.

 

“Is this about me and Babe?” Ralph demanded. Gene snapped his mouth shut with an audible click. “You’ve stopped talking to me since you saw us kissing. Anytime you’re here you either lock yourself up or you ignore me. You’ve taken every extra shift at every hospital in the city who has some to spare. I can write that off as Doc being Doc but this is different.”

 

Gene’s jaw ticked beneath his skin. “How the hell do you know that?”

 

Ralph thumbed over his inner wrist and goosebumps cropped up. “You taught me how to find things out. The only thing I can’t figure out is why you’re mad at me.”

 

“I’m not-”

 

“Don’t lie to me. We don’t lie to each other. I…” There’s something in Ralph’s eyes that broke his heart to see there. “I need to know if you’re going to hurt Babe.”

 

Gene’s mouth dropped in a dumb gape. He stared up at Ralph and found painful sincerity etched across his face. The thought had never crossed his mind even once and he was horrified to know that it had been tormenting Ralph. Babe was an innocent who lived his life fully and brimmed with sweetness. There was nothing in him that needed to be tested.

 

“Please, Gene, he’s never done anything,” Ralph pleaded tearfully, taking his silence for damnation. “Take it out on me. I’ll do whatever you want just don’t hurt him.”

 

Gene eased his wrists from Ralph’s slack grip and slowly sat up so as not to spook him. He curled his arms around Ralph’s waist and pulled him into a tight hug. The man’s breath hitched but didn’t return the gesture, a minute tremble of fear starting across his shoulders.

 

“No, never,” Gene swore. “I’d never hurt you or Edward. Never once thought about it.”

 

Ralph sniffed back tears and pressed his mouth to Gene’s shoulder. “Then why...?”

 

“You don’t want to know.”  
  
  
  
“I do,” he insisted.

 

Gene swallowed his pride and pulled back to look into those dark eyes that were shimmering with hurt. He laid his palms along Ralph’s back and wondered when he’d grown so soft. “The ugly truth of it is...I’m a bit jealous of you and your Babe.”

 

Ralph’s brows knitted up and that beautifully expressive mouth pouted up. “Gene-”

 

He thumbed below that full lip. “Hush. Just...you’re both so happy. Makes me think about what I don’t have.” It was half a lie but it was all he had to offer. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll stop acting like a horse’s ass. We’ve got important work to do here. I shouldn’t be so selfish.” Ralph was still frowning as he cradled his jaw in both hands. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Jealous?” he parroted.

 

Gene could feel his ears burning. “Ain’t proud of it.”

 

Ralph blanketed his hand in his own and turned his head, gaze lingering on his own until it was shuttered away by dark lashes. Ralph kissed his palm and Gene dropped a hand to the bed to keep himself from swaying. Those full lips felt like silk against him, parting in a filthy french kiss that seared wet heat into his flesh. Gene sucked in a shaky breath and tried to pull away but he was weak to it. He wanted that kiss on his own mouth, his throat, the hollow of his hips...he wanted to return them a hundredfold.

 

“You should sleep,” Ralph murmured, thumbing over the damp skin he’d left behind.

 

Gene’s throat clicked as he tried to find his voice. “I’ll go home.”

 

“No, stay here,” Ralph demanded with a cheeky grin. “That way I know you actually slept.”

 

Gene let himself savor the thought of sleeping in the man’s personal cubby hole surrounded by his spare clothes and posters, then let it go. It would be his own cot then. “I’ll just-”

 

“ _Here_ ,” Ralph persisted, shoving on his shoulder. Gene gave a put-upon groan as he was knocked back onto the mattress once more. This time he enjoyed the softness and give, the kiss of the pillow under his head. His eyes were heavy and it would be so easy to just let them fall.

 

“I can do that,” Gene slurred as he felt Ralph taking off his shoes.

 

“Sure,” Ralph snorted, hands skimming up and fingers curling in the elastic waist of his scrubs. “These off too.”

 

Gene didn’t have time to be embarrassed as Ralph wrestled him out of his pants. He managed to sit up enough to get tugged out of his shirts as well. He eased back down onto the pillows with growing swell of exhaustion. He was slipping fast.

 

Ralph folded up the dirty scrubs and laid them on the small desk he had in the corner of the closet. There was a lamp there as well and he clicked it off. “I’ll be in the workshop if you need me, okay?”

  
  
Gene hummed and turned his head into the pillow, rubbing his cheek against it. It smelled so much like Ralph here. Musk and something earthy like cinnamon, comforting. “Will you look over my design for Shelton’s mask?”

 

“Halfway done, Boss,” Ralph promised, figure struck against the light from the workshop. The slip between ‘Gene’ and ‘Doc’ or ‘Boss’ was distinctive and it was reassuring. “Don’t worry about a thing. We’re right on schedule. I’ll leave the door cracked.”

 

“Thank you, Ralph,” Gene whispered, already half asleep.

 

o0o

 

_Whiskey burned paths of hellfire down his throat. He choked it down to drown his despair, foot hard on the gas pedal. The back road was winding and the trees loomed in on each side. The reflectors on the railing passed by in a blur. Worthless. Stupid. No family, no friends, only the damn hospital that treated him like shit. His colleagues didn’t respect him, even his own blood didn’t talk to him. He wasn’t anything, anyone, he didn’t want to be here anymore. Here, or anywhere._

 

_The world twisted and turned itself inside out. It was darkness and agony as everything got too sharp. He was face down in his own blood. He was shredded and broken, a doll tossed in a crunched cage. He was pinned and pierced through by metal, pinned, helpless. No matter how he pushed and squirmed, he couldn’t get free. The car was collapsing around him, glass raining on his head. It was closing in..._

 

Gene woke screaming and clawing at his chest. He choked on the sound and searched wildly for the long scrap metal that had pierced through his body. His fingers found the puckered scar and the thin jagged lines all across his chest. The darkness started to recede and he could hear Ralph’s muffled music, see the crack of light under the door, feel the blankets beneath his back.

 

Reality came back to him with each hiccuped breath. He screwed his eyes shut and flipped onto his stomach, hugging Ralph’s pillow and burying his face into it. He sucked in Ralph’s scent and let it ground him. He thought he’d put that night behind him. He should’ve known better. That night would haunt him for the rest of his life.

 

It was still hard to remember what exactly had happened during his shift at the ER. One too many drug addicts trying to scheme him out of pain meds while honest people laid in pain just a few rooms down afraid their insurance wouldn’t cover it. Children suffering and crying and dying, being rushed into surgery, mothers weeping, fathers already grieving, and fucking addicts were scraping them dry with loopholes and persistence. He could remember being furious and lashing out, then after work wanting only a distraction to ease the burden. He’d looked into his phone and found no friendly face to make plans with. No one on his side. He’d tried calling his mother but she’d merely told him what time it was and hung up on him.

 

Whiskey had been cheap enough to buy and after sucking down a bottle a sick revelation had come to him. He’d gotten in his car and drove out into the outskirts of town and kept drinking with one goal in mind - to end it all. All the old buried hurt had ripped anew and surged to the surface with liquid courage. He’d find a cliff and he’d drive right off it, let God do the rest. He had thought himself useless, purposeless, and knew no one would miss him.

 

Gene had woken up plastered to the roof of his car with the frame crushed in all around him and every window broken. He’d driven off the cliff, alright, but had landed upside down from the great height only to _live_. He remembered being in unfathomable pain with glass embedded into every inch of flesh he had. But when he’d tried to sit up to get himself out he found a piece of the car had broken free and pierced through his body. There was blind panic and a rush to remember anatomy placement, to take it out or leaving in.

 

And then there was only screaming into the crumpled car and struggling to pull the sharp metal out of him.

 

He’d lived, barely. Somehow he’d crawled out of the woods to the nearest road and there he’d been found, blacked out with his phone in his hand. How he’d lived he still didn’t know but all that had mattered was he _did_. That night his entire world had been changed and a new perspective had dawned on him. Through suffering came a fresh appreciation for life. Through torture came gratitude.

 

That was the night it had all started. Laying in the hospital bed, brimming with fresh purpose, he’d formed the foundation of the work.

 

Now all that was left were scars, and Ralph.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Gene closed the workshop door behind him and pressed pause on Ralph’s iPod as he passed the speaker system. His apprentice was working hard on the fine inner workings of Walter Gordon’s trap and looked beyond tired. The ignition switch could wait.

  
  
Gene sat a drink carrier on the table beside his apprentice with a smile. There were two large coffees inside it balanced out with two smalls. He tapped his finger on the larger. “Extra cream, two packs of white sugar, two packs of Equal. Times two.

 

Ralph threw aside the torch and welding mask with a beaming grin. “Oh God, thank you! I love you, Doc.”

 

Gene laughed in surprised delight as Ralph swiveled in his chair and hugged him around the middle. Ralph buried his face in the soft blue of his sweater and squeezed him tight. He felt warm all over at the open affection. He dared to take off Ralph’s hat and pet through his hair. It was fluffy silk between his fingers. Ralph hummed and leaned into it. “You’re the best.”

 

“I don’t know about that,” Gene admonished. “I wanted to ask you something, Ralph. I know it’s late.”

 

“Hold on.” Ralph pulled away long enough to moan around a long drink of coffee. To Gene’s surprise, Ralph wrapped his arms around him around and laid his cheek against his stomach. “Okay. Go.”

 

“Did you tell Babe you won’t be seeing him for a week or more?” Gene asked quietly, not wanting to upset him.

 

“Yeah. Told him I’d be out of town.”

 

“We could have to disappear for a while,” Gene reminded, scratching gently through his hair. “Or forever. Are you prepared for that?”

 

Ralph nosed at him and his tummy fluttered. “Of course.”

 

“Even if that means leaving Babe behind?”

 

“I know the risk, Doc, promise.”

 

There was trust in his voice and it hit Gene right where it mattered. He sighed and carded his fingers through Ralph’s hair to cup the back of his head. “You don’t...have to do this with me if you don’t want to.”

 

Ralph’s head tipped back into his hands. “I want to do this. I’m with you the whole way.”

 

“I don’t want you to lose him.” Gene cupped his jaw, searching those earnest eyes. “Someone so sweet and untouched could never understand our work. I could never forgive myself if he…”

 

“Turned us in?” Ralph offered quietly.

 

“If he hated you, _us_ ,” Gene corrected gently. He rubbed his thumb across Ralph’s cheek with a faint smile. “If you were as lonely as me.”

 

Ralph picked up his hand and shook his head. “All I need is you.”

 

Gene felt breathless all over again and he almost had to look away. There was such naked honesty in Ralph’s eyes. It felt like a brand.

 

“All I need is you,” Ralph professed.

 

“Ralph-”

 

“It would kill me if I lost him,” Ralph confessed in a rush. “But we’ve only been dating a few months. You, Gene...you gave me my life back. I need you.” The last was a whisper. Ralph blushed but didn’t look away. “Don’t send me away when we’re so close.”

 

Gene wanted to protest. He wanted to push Ralph into a normal life and free him from the work. But Ralph had laced himself into every project just as deeply as Gene had. As much as he wanted to take the burden alone they were together in this now. Instead of pushing more, Gene leaned down and dropped a chaste kiss into his hair.

 

“Okay,” Gene murmured, touching their foreheads for a long moment before patting his cheek. “Drink your coffee. Don’t burn yourself. I’m going to finalize the floor plans. We’ll do a runthrough at the asylum and the school at the end of the week if we stay on the timeline. Two weeks from now we should be ready to do a mass catch, including that trip to Kentucky. We’ll have to push to get it done.”

 

Ralph smacked his hip with a grin. “You can count on me, Boss.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh thank you guys SO MUCH for the response to this fic? I'm absolutely blown away. I didn't think anyone would read this installment. All of you, just...I'm teary. You're so good to me. Thank you so so so so much. I'm nursing a tiny flu and working a ten day streak right now but Ive been tryying to keep writing. I hope you guys like this chapter. Epilogue to the series still to come!

Even with their two new subjects dumped on an old boxspring in the corner and safely drugged as they were, Ralph still took the time to stretch his back and gripe. “This is dangerous. I mean _stupid_ dangerous.”

 

Gene plopped down in his chair and rolled his aching shoulders. “It’s _all_ dangerous.”

 

Ralph groaned as something popped low in his spine. “No I mean _specifically_ this. Taking down an ex-marine with PTSD and a seasoned detective.”

 

Gene snored in mild amusement. It had been no small feat to get their other subjects as well. Hoosier had been a fight and they’d found Shelton stoned and soundly sleeping. “Mr. Speirs there nearly broke my neck so I’m going to say I have it worse, Ralph.”

 

Ralph wandered over and examine his throat. Gene rolled his eyes as his head was gentled from one side to the other, fingers skimming over the critical points in search of damage. For all he dismissed medical school after being wiped out by the drugs, Ralph retained an impressive amount of his knowledge and knew what he was doing when it came to injury.

 

He hit a sore spot and Gene hissed. “I still need to prep the syringes.”

 

Speirs and Lipton would need to be further sedated. They’d run into some issues with the gas chamber and they needed a few hours to complete the set up. Hoosier and Shelton were strapped up and would need doses to keep them quiet for the next few days. They’d managed to nab the pair while they were out on an assignment closer than they’d anticipated. They still needed to snatch Liebgott and Webster and they wouldn’t get lucky twice. There was a lot of work to do yet.

 

“It’s just sore.”

 

“I got you.”

 

Gene shuddered as Ralph laid his hands on his shoulders and started to massage. His fingers worked expertly over the knotted muscles and dug into pressure points, bearing down and releasing in a rhythm that gave him goosebumps. He could almost hear his muscles give and gentle pleasure blossomed wherever those hands were. Ralph’s fingers found every sore spot and dug in without hesitation. He slumped into it and felt relief pour through him like hot water.

 

“Don’t,” Gene muttered weakly, reaching back and touching his friend’s arm.

 

Ralph hushed him and rubbed harder, digging in where he knew the man held his tension. It was right at the top of his spine and it felt like stone. “We’ve got a few minutes. You could lay down on one of the cots and I could rub you down?”

 

God, that sounded like the best thing Gene had heard of in quite some time. He indulged in the fantasy for a few moments. He could strip down and spread out on Ralph’s bed, sink into the soft blankets as his apprentice straddled him. Those wide palms gliding across his bare back, all that heat against his skin, being pressed down by capable hands in complete surrender. It would be the closest they’d ever been besides passing out in the same bed.

 

“That’s...not a good idea, Ralph,” Gene admitted, rolling his tingling shoulders and brushing off those hands he wanted on him so badly. “Take the detective and I’ll set up his husband.”

 

Ralph sighed through his nose but nodded. “No problem, Boss.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

They had rigged the asylum basement to be inaccessible from the upper, closed down levels. They had the only way out in the whole building. Together they had set up a small wall of monitors to watch both Liebgott and Lipton’s games at the same time. They had an eye on everything and a wide set of controls for all the tests, as well as all the circuitry in the building. They’d been careful closing off every possible exit and crafting a maze to force the men through.

 

Gene wouldn’t be surprised if things went wrong but it was looking unlikely. This was a large undertaking and many lives hung in the balance but they had been thorough. He and Ralph had poured over every inch of the schematics, tested and retested the devices, gone through the maze themselves, even got a few bruises trying to knock out some boarded up windows. _There’s a chance we could truly save these men. Now it’s all up to them._

 

Lipton was on his second test but Gene’s thoughts briefly wandered.

 

“Has Edward texted you?” he asked as nonchalantly as he could manage. They were sitting side by side in the most comfortable office chairs they could smuggle in. Coffee steamed in styrofoam cups in front of them and the mess from the donuts Ralph had brought had been carefully swept away into the sack they brought. They would leave no trace. If suspicion fell too closely they would torch the place and go on the run. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

 

Ralph licked the sweet coffee from his lips and shook his head, setting the cup back down. “Don’t know. I told him I wouldn’t be on my phone and I’ve kept the battery out just in case.”

  
  
“Smart,” Gene grunted, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. He wondered what Babe thought of all the secrecy. He’d accepted a few lunch invitations and besides being perfectly charming and amusing, Babe seemed rather normal and relaxed. He didn’t nettle for information that wasn’t freely given. He seemed happy just to be around them and his gestures of affection seemed genuine. He was unsuspecting and Gene hoped it stayed that way.

 

“Do you like Babe?” Ralph asked with the same kind of forced nonchalance. Unlike Gene it did not hide curiosity but shyness, even hesitance. Ralph’s eyes stayed on the screen but he picked at his nails under the table.

 

“I do,” Gene admitted, watching him carefully. “I think you two make a sweet couple.”

 

“You think he’s cute?” Ralph’s voice pitched up on the last word and it was endearingly sweet. On screen, Lipton struggled to solve the game. It didn’t look promising.

  
  
  
“Very,” Gene answered honestly.

 

  
Ralph made a show of putting his fist under his chin and fluttering his lashes Gene’s way. “But I’m cuter, right?”

  
  
“You would be without those hats,” Gene teased, getting an affronted look.

 

“You love my hats!”

 

“Aye,” Gene chuckled in agreement, taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“Who’s prettier, me or Babe?” Ralph needled with a cheeky grin.

 

“You’re both very pretty,” Gene pacified though he could feel his cheeks burning. Yes, they were both handsome men. Men he’d like to do downright sinful things to. He could only imagine the generosity of their mouths, the rasp of their fingertips, the glide of their tongues...it made him shiver.

 

“Who’d you rather kiss?” Ralph offered. “Me or him?”

 

Gene snorted though he felt his heart jump. “Not much of a choice.”

 

“What if you didn’t have to choose?”

 

Gene’s head whipped toward him when the teasing faded away to something dangerously more earnest. There was a heat in Ralph’s eyes that hit him between the thighs and he squirmed in his chair. His thoughts stuttered out and he gaped at his apprentice’s grin.

 

Ralph glanced at the screens and his face fell back into a professional mask. “He’s found Fick.”

 

And for the moment it was forgotten.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Gene had left Ralph alone with the final setup of Toye and Luz’s game. Ralph had played his cards close to the chest and waited until Doc was outside checking the perimeter before he defied him. Ralph doubled back to the workshop and switched out the vial of cocaine for a sobering concoction of his own. He knew enough about drug synthesis and had enough money to pay off someone to snag the drugs he’d needed to combine. It wouldn’t be enough to erase Luz’s withdraw completely but it would keep him clear headed for a couple hours.

 

The defiance tasted bitter in the back of his throat. Gene wanted Luz high as a reflection of how Toye treated him, to keep him high when it came to making the important decisions within their test. Luz would be used to show Toye that getting what he wanted would kill him.

 

Ralph carried Luz over to the hole they’d made in the stage and hugged him close, being as gentle as he could. They’d known each other once. Back when Ralph had dropped out of med school, Luz’s house had been his favorite hang out spot. They’d score weed and as much coke as they could scrape together and binge mindlessly for days. They’d passed out in Luz’s bed and couch more times than he’d ever been able to remember. They’d been friends. When Ralph had returned from his own test and he sobered, he’d visited Luz to try and convince him to get clean with him.

 

He’d found his friend passed out on his floor and known it was a futile cause. People didn’t change unless they were forced to. It had been one of the reasons he’d sought out the man who had tested him and claimed he’d been ‘missing a piece’. Gene had come across this grand plan after confronting both Detective Liebgott and Special Agent Toye in different hospitals and overhearing their conversations, stitching up their wounds, and subsequently taking down all their information that the hospital was privy to. It was Ralph who found out about George Luz and encouraged Gene to involve him but not test him. It had taken a lot of convincing and back rubs to keep Gene’s brilliant mind from weaving Luz in more completely but it had been worth it.

 

Ralph hated how far Luz had fallen and was determined to help him. He knew Luz pretty well. The test itself was going to be more than enough to get him to sober up especially if he loved Toye as much as he claimed.

 

Ralph laid his friend out and took out a tourniquet. He tied off Luz’s arm and set up the syringe with careful movements. If things went well, the cocktail he’d cooked up would temporarily wash out the withdrawal symptoms. He crossed himself before taping out a vein, pressing the needle in, and plunging with a steady hand. The moment he ripped off the tourniquet Luz gasped and nearly sat up on his own. He was clearly gone but his eyes were wide open.

 

Ralph grabbed him and flipped him around, clamping a hand over his eyes and curling an arm around his chest to hold him in place. Luz thrashed, not awake but aware enough to move.

 

“I’m watching you, George. You fuck up again and I’ll put you through a test myself. And I won’t be so nice about it,” Ralph growled in his ear with a threatening squeeze. “Be. Grateful.”

 

Ralph held him until he passed out once more, the pull of the drug fighting off the adrenaline. He slipped Luz into the hole as best he could and then tossed down a bottle of water and the tackle box of evidence.

  
  
It wasn’t until Toye had already woken up did Ralph realize that in his hurry to switch the drugs he’d forgotten to paint some very important numbers at the last test. He feigned needing a piss and rushed but there were cameras everywhere and he knew he was busted by the stern glare Gene gave him when he returned.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Toye’s test was finally finished. Their complicated multi-tier game was coming to a close. There were a few loose ends to tie up but they were approaching the end. Gene was behind the wheel of their throwaway van and their test subjects, Luz and Toye, were drugged in the back. Their choices had been made. For now they were alive and had earned safe passage. Toye would need medical attention straight away from the bad shocks to his heart but otherwise their wounds were trivial.

 

Ralph chewed the side of his thumb and kept his eyes on the road. They were scouting for an ambulance along their safe route so they could drop their subjects off. He could taste blood in his cuticle but was too anxious to care. Gene was driving and he could feel his mentor seething next to him. He stopped glancing over when he realized Gene was white knuckling the steering wheel and gritting his teeth so hard his jaw looked like steel.

 

“How long are you going to keep lying to me, Ralph?”

 

Ralph dragged the edge of his nail against his tooth and shrugged. “I didn’t say nothing.”

 

“ _Omission_ ,” Gene bit out. “Do _not_ play stupid with me, Ralph. It doesn’t suit you.”

 

Ralph felt his nape prickle. He knew that tone, that low voice. Gene was still fully in that ‘Jigsaw’ mindset and he needed to tread carefully. Lying wouldn’t be tolerated. He knew that, he’d made his choice just as much as George had. It was obvious his syringe switch had been caught and all he could do was come clean.

 

“I knew him from before,” Ralph confessed. “We used to get high together. We were...friends.”

 

The steering wheel squeaked as Gene twisted his fingers on the leather. “And you didn’t think to volunteer this information?”

 

“I thought you knew everything, Doc,” Ralph shot back carelessly.

 

Gene’s glare seared him and he flinched, drawing up closer to the car door. “We can’t let this be personal.”

 

“It wasn’t,” Ralph assured him. “George always felt things deeply and I knew he fell hard for this guy. I knew that hurting someone he loved would be enough to get him clean.”

 

“And if it’s not?” Gene demanded.

 

“I take full responsibility for him,” Ralph promised, gesturing vaguely to the back seat. “If he touches the stuff again, I’ll do his test myself.”

 

Gene sucked his teeth and Ralph tried not to admire the way the streetlamps highlighted the arch of his sharp cheekbones as they passed. “You decided this without me.”

 

“I’m sorry, Gene.” And he meant it.

 

“You better be.” Gene’s accent whipped up thicker as he raised his voice. “You put yourself in danger!”

 

Ralph thumped his head against the seat with a sigh. “I risked the work, I know.”

 

“Damn the work, Spina, you risked _yourself_!” Gene snapped hotly. “I won’t have it. If he identifies you, I’ll-”

 

Gene cut himself off but the implication stayed in the air. There was a whisper of violence there and Ralph was shocked. He’d never heard it before in Gene and it rattled him. His eyes flicked between Gene’s harsh grip and the bloodless purse of his mouth.

 

“What?” Ralph needled, looking briefly at Luz’s slack face in the back. “You’d kill him?”

 

Gene bared his teeth in a scowl.

 

“You can’t stand killing.” The words rushed out of him. “You’d _never_ kill. It’s against everything you believe in, Gene.”

 

“If you think I’m gonna’ let you go to jail or get shot down by some trigger happy policeman, you’ve got another thing coming!” Gene snapped in sharp jabs, each word like a blow. “Now look for a bus so we can drop them off. We have one more game to finish.”

 

Ralph nodded and went back to looking at the road like something hadn’t shifted in his chest. It felt like sparklers were kissing his ribs as excitement and hope fizzled all up through his chest. He went warm and hid his smile as he obediently looked for an ambulance.

  
  
Something had changed and he wasn’t going to let it pass.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Ralph and Gene laid as low as they could while still attending their jobs. They cleared out the school and asylum of any evidence. It took days to wipe away everything they might’ve touched without gloves and bag up all the evidence. They had left the bodies behind but the mechanisms they’d used for their traps were harder to haul. Some pieces had to stay behind but the more customized devices that could have traceable tool marks were heaved into Ralph’s truck. They hauled what could be burned out of the city and took care of it in the most remote space they could find.

 

Ralph had tried to protest breaking down the mechanisms they’d worked so hard on but Gene’s cool logic prevailed. “That’s how men get caught. There can’t be any trophies. The reward is the work.”

 

They condensed their workshops down to one warehouse and even that was bare bones. It was a spare place under a false name and was due to be demolished soon. There was one more game to complete and they were working overtime to get it ready. Ralph busied himself welding chains together to be the specified lengths as Gene gathered together the nail bombs.

 

There was a solid knock at the door of the warehouse and Gene sat up from his hunched position, eyes wide behind his safety goggles. Another knock came, louder this time, and he jumped to his feet.

 

“What the hell?”

 

Ralph turned off the blowtorch and flipped the helmet up to reveal a smile. “Go on.”

 

Gene shucked his goggles off and headed hesitantly toward the far door. He stole glances back at Ralph but only got encouraging nods. He double checked that nothing incriminating was visible around him before he threw open the door.

 

A wide, toothy smile greeted him. Freckles, a shock of red hair, and a soft looking scarf buried under a pointy chin. “Hey Gene!”

 

“Edward,” Gene breathed. He knew he was gawking and he tried to close his mouth but he really didn’t expect it. The man was holding a paper bag and a drink carrier, his smile never faltering even as Gene made a fool of himself. He picked up his jaw and raked his fingers through his hair, trying to fix the wayward strands. “What...what are you doing here?”

 

“I brought sandwiches from my sister’s deli,” Babe chirped, then held up the drink carrier. “A Coke for Ralph and a large green tea for you with that good organic brown sugar. Is this okay?” He suddenly looked a little sheepish.

 

“It’s great,” he managed to get out, stunned at the generous gesture.

 

Babe preened in relief. “Good. Speaking of good, you’re looking nice, Doc.”

  
  
“I’ve been getting more sleep,” Gene replied lamely.

 

“Sleep looks good on you,” Babe chuckled.

 

Gene heard Ralph clear his throat and looked over to see Ralph teasingly waving him on. “Oh! Oh, I’d...I’d invite you in, but it’s a hazard zone. There’s, uh, nails everywhere.”

 

Babe went all pink. “I don’t want to get in the way! I know you two are busy with your charity stuff. It’s a great thing, turning these places into something useful.”

 

Gene hated to hear their lie parroted back in that trusting voice. It was better to have Babe protected than show the truth and risk everything.

 

“Just swung by to drop this off for you guys.” Babe handed the carrier and bag over with that overly sweet smile. “I know you don’t eat like you should. Ralph tells me all the time he’s worried that you’re gonna waste away on him. So, here.” His cheeks burned red and he fidgeted with his scarf. “Guess you don’t go out to lunch that often, huh?”

 

Gene blinked down at the food in his hands and tore his thoughts away from his growling stomach. “What? Uh, no, not really.”

 

“Would you want to go out with me tomorrow? I know a place,” Babe offered. Hope chimed in every word and Gene didn’t have the heart to say no. He should have. He didn’t know what was going on, what dynamic was playing out, but those eyes dazzled him. “Lunch and maybe something sweet after? Ralph said you like donuts and I know the best in the city.”

 

“Yeah,” Gene accepted, still a little stunned by the whole exchange. “That sounds nice.”

 

“Great!” Babe beamed, blushing and seeming to flutter as he pulled out a scrap of paper with writing on it. He laid it on the drink carrier. His hand strayed to cup Gene’s shoulder and squeeze. “I’ll see you there tomorrow around noon?”

 

Gene stared at where they touched and nodded dumbly. Babe reluctantly let him go and headed back to his car with one last smile. Gene wandered back inside in a daze. He set their lunch on the table and Ralph’s stomach roared as he hurried over to grab his piece of the bounty. He plopped down in one of the lawn chairs they’d brought and stared dully at the bag.

 

“What just happened?” Gene asked himself. “I think…”

  
“Did he ask you out on a date?” Ralph asked, pulling out his sandwich and taking off his gloves to dig into it.

 

“Date?” Gene echoed, blinking rapidly back into reality. Is that what had happened? Had Babe asked him out on a romantic sort of date? Sweet, unattainable Babe who was very firmly Ralph’s _boyfriend_.

 

“Yeah, I told him to ask you out ‘cause I knew you’d never get up the courage to do it,” Ralph admitted with a bright smile that rivaled Babe’s own.

 

Gene felt his ears burning and he frowned. “So what? That was some kind of joke? Real funny, Ralph.”

  
It was Ralph’s turn to look confused. “What?”

 

“You two figure out how I feel and you think it’s cute to make it some game? Well it’s not,” Gene bristled, shutters closing around his heart. He shouldn't have let it get this far. He shouldn’t have let his heart get involved like it had. He was being _mocked_ by two men he trusted. He glared as Ralph got up and closed the distance between them but the irritation fell away when rough fingers touched his jaw.

 

“Ralph?” Gene swallowed dryly as the man leaned down and more firmly cupped his cheek, tilting his head with purpose. “Ralph, I-”

 

Warm lips slid across his own and he froze up. But Ralph hummed and thumbed over his cheek to send a warm wave of affection through him. It loosened up his shoulders and he found himself swaying into the man’s touch. He’d wanted this since the moment he’d taken Ralph’s upturned face into his own hands. To have it come to fruition, to feel the touch of the lips he’d coveted...for a moment it felt like he was drowning.

 

Yet it was chaste and sweet like powdered sugar.

 

Ralph pulled back and let his thumb brush just under Gene’s lip. “I’d love to take you on a date too.”

 

“What?” Gene rasped, still dizzy. “Date both of you?”

 

“We could all, maybe, date each other?” Ralph offered with that same gleam of hope that Babe’s own eyes had shined with. “Babe brought it up. It’s something he wants.” A ruddy blush strained across Ralph’s nose as he briefly dropped his eyes with a quiet chuckle. “Hell, it’s something I _really_ want.”

 

Gene’s head wouldn’t stop spinning. He grabbed Ralph’s hand to ground himself . He laced their fingers and squeezed. The proposition sounded like a dream. It was what he’d been wanting but had been too reluctant to put into words. His mouth was tingling from Ralph’s kiss and he hungered for another. “Date...each other?”

 

Ralph snorted at how baffled his mentor sounded. “You can’t be so old-fashioned, Gene. You _have_ to heard of being poly?”

 

Gene wracked his brain for the meaning of the word but he was fixated on the full curve of those lips as the man spoke. “Like multiple wives?”

 

Ralph scrubbed his hand over his face with a groan. “Jesus, Gene. I’ve got a lot to teach you.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

They’d been saving this area for something special. There were a series of tunnels beneath one of the houses he’d acquired. Deep and far beneath it was a corner bathroom with a heavy set of sliding metal doors. Gene had laid eyes on it early on in his work and had decided it would be saved as a last resort. It was a tomb in the making if he’d ever seen one.

  
  
Ralph and Gene dragged Liebgott and Webster into that very same bathroom. It was heavily tiled and filthy, covered in crud and stinking to high Heaven. They’d installed the heavy chains on opposite ends of the room and the nail bombs had been mounted out of the way. The game was simple enough - the subjects would be forced to free themselves with the bone saw in the middle of the room and work together to read the numbers written on their napes in order to leave. They could each free themselves or only one could work up the courage to do so and abandon his partner. It was elegant in its simplicity and it drove the point home.

 

Either they would have two subjects to knock out and cauterize the legs of, only one, or two bodies to roll into bags.

 

“It’s not really fair to him, Doc,” Ralph grumbled half heartedly as he locked Liebgott’s ankle up. He tossed his chin at Webster. “I mean, he’s just a kid.”

 

“I’ve thought the same thing,” Gene admitted as he tugged the blanket he’d use to drag Webster out from under his limp form.

 

Ralph’s nose scrunched up as he surveyed the room. “Why didn’t you plan the game between Toye and Liebgott? Make them face what they did to each other?”

 

“Who ever really hears a lesson if their heart isn’t involved? Luz, Webster...they’re the hearts,” Gene mused. He swept back a stray dark curl on Webster’s brow. He reminded him of Babe in a way - sweet and smart, unknowing. “You have to give them something worth saving or they don’t learn anything at all. Understand?”

 

Ralph nodded and rolled up the blanket he’d used for their subject, sticking it under his arm. “Yes, Boss.”

 

Gene walked past him and took his hand, tilting his head toward the door. “The game’s about to begin. Let’s leave them to it.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

‘ _You might be wondering why you’re here, Detective Liebgott. I have given you another chance at your game. Across from you is the reward you failed to achieve - the life of your loved one. Now a sacrifice must be made. You have both been bound and I have provided two keys. One to free you from your shackles, laid out for you to see, and another to open the only door out of this room, though hidden at the back of your minds. I implore you to learn the lesson of forgiveness and work together. A third chance will not be given. What dead weight are you willing to cut away in order to move on. Consider quickly. When the timer runs out this room will become uninhabitable. Live or die. Make your choice._ ’

 

Ralph knew he should’ve been concentrating on the game playing out on the dual screens in front of them but all his focus was on the way Gene’s fingers laced with his own. Gene was dutifully watching but his thumb kept rubbing soothing circles on the back of Ralph’s hand and it was making him melt. He couldn’t stop looking down at where their hands sat so innocently on Gene’s lap.

 

For as long and rough as the road to this moment had been, it all seemed so easy now.

 

On the screen, Liebgott lunged for the bone saw. With a belt tied hastily around his leg, he started to tear away at flesh with an admirable single minded determination. “ _Joe, no!_ ”

 

Ralph’s phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket with his free hand. He read the text and smiled, flicking open the screen to reply. “Babe wants to know if he can make us dinner tomorrow night?”

 

“ _I’m getting us out of here, David. I’ll do it for you if I have to, God damn it!_ ”

 

“After the weekend would be better,” Gene murmured, eyes still trained on the game even as he gave Ralph’s hand a squeeze. “We’ll need a few days to take care of whatever happens here.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right.”

 

“ _David, David, fucking look at me...look at me! You have to, you gotta’ just fuckin’ do it. I can’t lose you._ ”

 

“He wants to know if you like Italian? He says it’s all he knows how to make.”

 

Gene chuckled warmly at the thought of Babe’s flustered face whizzing around a kitchen. “Sounds good. Does he care if we come over early? I’ll bring wine.”

 

“ _I-It hurts, Joe, fuck. I don’t think-_ ”

 

“ _Yes you fucking can! Don’t let him win!_ ”

 

“Why do you wanna’ go early?”

 

“I want to watch him cook.”

 

Ralph snickered and tapped out the message with one hand. “Fair enough.”

 

“ _Web, there’s...there’s numbers on the back of your neck. C-Check mine. Hurry._ ”

 

“He says he doesn’t mind. I can’t wait,” Ralph sighed happily as he tucked his phone away. He squinted at the screen and sat forward, scrutinizing the twin pools of blood. “They look like they’re losing a lot. You sure we got enough to keep them going until we find them a hospital?”

 

“Plenty,” Gene assured him. He got up and stretched, working the kinks out of his shoulders with a small groan. “Alright. Get the blowtorch ready. Looks like our boys are goin’ to make it out in time. You got-?”  
  
  
  
“Masks and syringes, check. It’s all ready to go, Doc.”

 

“Let’s go get them.”


End file.
